There are presently commercially available multiple stroke pneumatic control systems for punch press feeders that function so that the feeder controls the initiation of each press cycle of operation; this type of control arrangement in practice being relatively expensive and cumbersome to set up and use. Such repeater controls are not intended for use where the press is to run continuously and control the feeder so that the latter executes a plurality of stock feed strokes in response to each operative cycle of the continuously running press. It is desirable to be able to interface and control the operation of a single slide feeder in this last mentioned manner particularly where a very simple set-up procedure is desired for physically interfacing the feeder with the press.
One object of the invention is to provide a novel repeater or multi-stroke control arrangement for single slide pneumatic feeders whereby the feeder may be automatically repetitively cycled so as to produce a predetermined number of stock feed strokes for each cycle of operation of a continuously running press.
Another object of the invention is to provide a novel repeater control arrangement wherein a pneumatic capacitance is utilized as part of the control for automatically recycling a punch press feeder.
A further object of the invention is to provide an improved multi-stroke control system for a pneumatic feeder wherein a first control signal is initiated so as to produce a first operative stroke of the feeder and at the same time to store a predetermined amount of pressure fluid that is adapted when released to initiate a second operative stroke of the feeder.